"He's definitely a natural born goal scorer," Ronan said. "I like to grind it out and get him the puck."

Naas knows exactly what Ronan does really well.

"So many things to help create opportunities," Naas said. "He's just a workhorse, such a good skater and he's relentless on the forecheck."

The UConn freshmen skate the wings on what has become the team's most dangerous line, Naas on the left and Ronan on the right with another freshman, Kasperi Ojantakanen, at center. This combination debuted after the December break and has been together for most of the past 14 games, the work of these three players helping Naas to nine goals in that span and helping push the Huskies into a position of opportunity with five games remaining in the regular season.

UConn (9-13-7, 6-7-4) faces Hockey East's other Huskies, Northeastern, Friday night in Boston and again Saturday afternoon at the XL Center. The teams are tied for seventh in the conference, and both are looking to remain in the top eight to clinch home ice for a first-round playoff series that begins March 6.

Northeastern (12-11-4, 7-7-2) was 0-8-1 to start the year but is 12-3-3 since – the third best record in the nation in that time.

"It's just a fun time of the year," coach Mike Cavanaugh said. "You can see the light at the end of the tunnel toward the end of a long season, the games mean that much more, playoff implications, you get rid of those January yucks and get really excited again."

After its worse loss of the season Saturday, 10-1 at Providence, UConn responded with one of its best overall performances Tuesday in a 1-0 victory against Merrimack. The only goal was scored by Naas, who charged the net and banged in a behind-the-back pass from center Brent Norris, who had temporarily replaced Ojantakanen on that line. Ronan started the play by beating a Merrimack player down the right to start a 3-on-2 and feeding Norris.

UConn is 7-2-2 when Naas scores. He has five game-winning goals, which leads Hockey East and is tied for fifth in the nation, and is two goals shy of tying Andrew Olson for the program's freshman Division I single-season record of 14. Many of Naas' goals have come on opportunities created by Ronan, who has three goals, six assists and is perhaps UConn's fastest and most tenacious player.

"What makes a good line is they all have to complement each other," Cavanaugh said. "Corey is usually the first one in on the forecheck, so he does keep a lot of plays alive. He does a lot of the grunt work for that line."

Cavanaugh grew up in North Andover, Mass., with Ronan's father, Ed Ronan, who played at Boston University and went on to play for three NHL teams, winning the Stanley Cup in 1993 with the Canadiens. He, too, was a rugged, relentless wing.

"I try to model myself after him," said Corey Ronan, raised in Franklin, Mass. "I think it's good when someone says you're the hardest-working guy. I really enjoy that. I try to be a two-way player."

UConn is averaging 1.97 goals a game, 53rd out of 59 Division I teams. Additionally, the Huskies are 0-for-19 on the power play in the past five games. For the season, they are 12-for-102, a percentage of 11.8 that is last in Hockey East and 55th in the nation.

Still, UConn has found enough of a scoring touch when needed most, and Tuesday's performance, despite yielding just one goal, highlighted progress made over the past four months.

"We had some really good chances that didn't go in," Cavanaugh said. "You have to be mentally strong to stay with what you're doing."